August 30, 2013

Food Review: Little Guildford Perth

The suburb of Guildford is an often overlooked facet of Perth - many who know of it prefer to keep it a secret, and those who don't only ever see it when they drive through to visit Swan Valley.

The last time I was in Guildford, it was when I was en route to Swan Valley for a day trip of wine, cheese and chocolate, doing the tourist thing. We never even step foot into Guildford properly, other than to pop by the information centre to collect some pamphlets and we didn't plan to explore Guildford at all.

Two years later, it seems ironic that I would make an entirely unplanned trip to Guildford, driving an entire 40 minutes to a part of Perth I am otherwise completely unaware of. Armed with my handphone and a hunger egging me on, it also seemed fateful, that the drizzly weather and strong wind today would push me into the comforts of Little Guildford.

I didn't actually plan to go to Little Guildford. I was actually wandering around to see what cafes were open, and was walking towards the Rose & Crown pub to check it out before the crowd and the rain stopped me from proceeding to cross the road.

Tentatively I stepped into Little Guildford, hidden behind the pink of cherry blossom trees, comforted by the sight of their coffee machine and the waitress waiting at the cashier, cake in hand and smile on face as she handed me a menu and we chose a seat.

Little Guildford is like the Tardis - it's way bigger on the inside. It doesn't look like a large establishment from outside but past its colonial white door frame is a lovely and accommodating restaurant to any meal group, small or large. With plenty of seating, a beautiful photo mural stretched across a wall, refurbished furniture and the quiet atmosphere of Perth's winter day, I knew we were in for a treat.

After hearing the very tempting specials of fresh soup and fresh baked quiches, we dried ourselves off and ordered two mains, the first of which was a home-made chicken and mushroom pie:

This pie, is ridiculously, ridiculously lovely. It was presented to us with a dressing tasting of tangy red wine vinegar, with a pile of beautifully roasted carrots, broccolini, beans and asparagus resting on a soft potato mash on the side. The pie itself was fresh, with a buttery, flakey crust, revealing within a beautiful cargo of chicken and mushrooms immersed in a fragrant, salty, peppery gravy/soup that blew my mind.

I did not want this pie to end. It was not an ordinary pie, it was some sort of delicious magic pie that made me scowl at it for not telling me its delicious magic secrets.

I think our waitress, at some point, thought we were unhappy with our food, even checking in with us to make sure we were alright because I kept making weird sounds as I made my way through the pie, and trying very hard to suppress my cursing. I might have embarrassed my companion as we ate, but I knew she enjoyed the pie as tremendously as I did.

Our second main was the steak sandwich:

The steak sandwich was two fillets of beautiful seared beef, sandwiched in caramelised onions, sharp cheese, fresh vegetables and buttered crusty bread, served on a pretty wooden plank with the thickest wedges I have ever seen in my life. The wedges are literally the four quarters of a giant potato, salted generously to make the skin crisp, leaving the actual potato to remain soft and light.

I found myself again pleased and overwhelmed by how tasty it is. The beef was soft, paired well with the sweet, soft onions, juices soaked up by the crusty bread, with the fresh vegetables providing lightness to an otherwise heavy sandwich. I was so happy with it I didn't even care that there were tomatoes in this creation.

After we finished our lunch, we settled back and chatted as we finished out tea, realising we were quite lucky to have found this establishment at the right time, as Little Guildford is only opened for lunch from 12 to 3pm on Fridays to Sundays.

We spent a total of $51 for our lunch, which was a little over my budget, but I find that difficult to contest when every bite I had in Little Guildford was pure joy - simple comfort food made well, presented beautifully and delivered with a standard I was not expecting at all from a quiet, unassuming shop. The space is charming, quiet, spacious and filled with trinkets, old lamps, jars and pots of herbs. They have a large al fresco area as well, a beautiful area absolutely covered by cherry blossom trees and their many pots of herbs and blossoms.

I am almost immediately certain, once I saw my food, that I would be back to visit this establishment again, perhaps to sit outside, collecting cherry blossoms petals as I revel in the quiet and the delicious magic of their pies and other fresh delights.